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Thursday, February 11, 2016

Front Living Room & Home Office Progress

The front living room is somewhat sort of taking shape around here. It has undergone lots of changes since we first moved in. The main thing with this room is that it is the first room you see upon entering our home, and it is also used as a home office for Hubs.

We had a similar set up in Atlanta, but had much more storage and organization for all the office "stuff".

AKA the printers/ files/ cords/ not so pretty things that make an office run. The other problem we had immediately upon moving into this house was the amount of furniture we owned. It's taken a good year to figure out what we need to hang on to, and what can go. Downsizing is a learning process all around!

When we moved in this was the blank slate.

Then came in all of our things. And as you can see, we had way too much furniture for this room. Claustrophobia, anyone?

For a long time I had the sofa directly in front of the fireplace because it was the only way the flow worked.

Over time we rearranged and moved out furniture until it felt right. Here's the arrangement we are left with on the "living room" side of the room. We've also changed the paint color from the beige to Benjamin Moore Gray Lake. It has helped tremendously to brighten things up.

The other side of the room I've considered finished for some time now. I love this view in our house. It's probably my favorite little area.

Such a happy foyer to come home to. We replaced the door and painted the new door blue, as well as replacing the foyer light for a colorful drum pendant.

I also got around to installing these fun curtains I've had for several years. We had these in Atlanta, but they work even better in this house I think!

The mantle and fireplace also recently underwent some changes. The problem with this room is lighting. It desperately needed some brightening.

A quick trip to HomeGoods and shopping my own house solved the problem. I ended up doing sort of a collected bookshelf look in a coastal theme. I also painted the spanish tiles on the fireplace with Annie Sloan french linen and paris gray. An easy and quick update that took maybe 30 minutes, if that.

The orange tile was an eye sore.

I like how the gray and linen now play off the old brick inside.

And then we have the problem side of the room, but the absolutely essential side. My husband's "office". We are in desperate need of organization over here. He needs filing cabinets, bookshelves, and a new office chair (one without tennis balls?!). And it all has to fit into this small space. Design challenge accepted... To be continued.

As you can see, the desk, the existing chair, the small side filing cabinet, and the large leather recliner are all too dark over here. We LOVE our recliner, however, so I think a large 20x20" throw pillow in a bright color will help. I also love the office desk and it's in great shape. The desk chair and the filing cabinet... best look out you two.

Helping this side of the room are the curtains I mentioned before and some bright artwork.

So here's where the room is today. The leather ottoman has been for sale as we continue to brighten this room and get rid of furniture. Someone is coming to pick it up tomorrow to purchase if it doesn't sell sooner. I love this ottoman, but honestly the scale is wrong for this couch. It's too tall and too bulky. It's also too dark. So bye-bye it goes.

It's funny, ever since moving into a smaller house we do not keep anything. Nothing is safe! As Hubs always says, we are not in the business of saving things, just money. Ha.